Human rights defenders have called for urgent investigations into Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers in Tana River County over alleged gross human rights violations against local residents.
According to the activists, KWS officers have been beating, harassing, and displacing villagers in Boka location, Bura Sub-County, accusing them of encroaching on Kora National Park, which lies along the Tana River–Garissa border.
Speaking on Wednesday after the burial of Muhumed Ahmed Sheikh, a 47-year-old businessman who was killed by an elephant, Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) Rapid Response Officer Francis Auma, said locals are now facing a double tragedy—attacks from wildlife and brutality from the very officers mandated to protect them.
“During our fact-finding mission, we have discovered that officers are unlawfully punishing locals, torching houses, killing livestock, and leaving survivors with permanent scars. This is inhumane. We demand urgent investigations into these gross human rights violations,” Auma said.
He accused KWS of downplaying the killing of Sheikh, noting that the agency attributed the attack to alleged encroachment into the park. “So according to KWS officials, the lives of locals do not matter, but those of wild animals do. We will continue documenting these abuses and present them to relevant authorities for legal action,” he added.
Auma, revealed that at least eight people have been killed by elephants in the area over the past two years, yet no compensation has been offered to families. “Despite repeated killings and destruction of property, KWS has failed to address the human-wildlife conflict or document the deaths. Instead, rangers are brutalising communities under the pretext of protecting wildlife,” he said.
Residents have also accused the officers of neglecting their duty to keep elephants and other wild animals within the park boundaries. “Despite elephants roaming around our homes, no action is taken to drive them back. Instead, we are being beaten, our homes burnt, and livestock killed,” lamented village elder Ali Abdallah Korane.
The community is now appealing to the government and local administration to intervene and hold the officers accountable. “We want action taken against rogue KWS officers. People are being killed and harassed, yet our reports are ignored,” Korane said.
Contextual
Kora National Park, established in 1990 and covering over 1,700 square kilometers, is a wilderness reserve famous for its elephant population and the late conservationist George Adamson. However, the park has long been a hotspot for human-wildlife conflict due to its proximity to densely populated villages in Tana River and Garissa counties.
In recent years, communities have reported rising cases of elephants straying into settlements, destroying crops, killing residents, and prompting retaliation from villagers. Rights groups argue that without proper conflict mitigation and compensation mechanisms, the standoff between locals and KWS officers risks escalating further.
